Further Evidence of Anthropogenic Impact: High Levels of Multiple-Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria Found in Neritic-Stage Sea Turtles

• Main Authors: Ming-An Tsai (Author), I-Chun Chen (Author), Zeng-Weng Chen (Author), Tsung-Hsien Li (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2024-10-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antibiotics13110998; 2079-6382
• Keywords: antimicrobials; multiple antibiotic resistance index; turtles; heavy metal resistance genes; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antibiotics, Vol 13, Iss 11, p 998 (2024)

Background/Objectives: Marine turtles are globally threatened and face daily anthropogenic threats, including pollution. Water pollution from emerging contaminants such as antimicrobials is a major and current environmental concern. Methods: This study investigated the phenotypic antimicrobial resistance and heavy metal resistance genes of 47 <i>Vibrio</i> isolates from different stages of sea turtles (oceanic stage vs neritic stage) from the Taiwanese coast. Results: The results show that a high proportion (48.9%; 23/47) of the <i>Vibrio</i> species isolated from sea turtles in our study had a multiple antimicrobial resistance (MAR) pattern. It was found that <i>Vibrio</i> spp. isolates with a MAR pattern and those with a MAR index value greater than 0.2 were both more likely to be observed in neritic-stage sea turtles. Furthermore, isolates from neritic-stage sea turtles exhibited greater resistance to the majority of antimicrobials tested (with the exception of beta-lactams and macrolides) than isolates from the oceanic-stage groups. Isolates from neritic sea turtles were found to be more resistant to nitrofurans and aminoglycosides than isolates from oceanic sea turtles. Furthermore, isolates with a MAR pattern (<i>p</i> = 0.010) and those with a MAR index value greater than 0.2 (<i>p</i> = 0.027) were both found to be significantly positively associated with the mercury reductase (<i>merA</i>) gene. Conclusions: The findings of our study indicate that co-selection of heavy metals and antimicrobial resistance may occur in aquatic bacteria in the coastal foraging habitats of sea turtles in Taiwan.